Word Confusion: Century versus Sentry

Revised as of
29 June 2023

Actually, this was my own confusion while I was listening to a television program while I was working on a project. I heard the word sentry but interpreted it as century. Further dialogue revealed my error. Not hundreds, but one man guarding a wagon train. Oops . . .

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Century	Sentry
Roman Theatre, 2nd Century by dimitrisvetsikas1969 is in the public domain, via Pixabay.	Guard of Buckingham Palace is MaryG90’s own work and under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — Sentries at Buck House are renowned for their stoicism.
Part of Grammar:
Adjective 1; Noun 1, 2 Plural for noun: centuries	Noun Plural: sentries
Adjective: Always combined with another word to describe 100 of something 1 Noun: A period of one hundred years 1 A period of one hundred years reckoned from the traditional date of the birth of Jesus Christ A group of one hundred things A company in the ancient Roman army, originally of one hundred men 2 An ancient Roman political division for voting A bicycle race of one hundred miles A score of one hundred in a sporting event	A soldier stationed to keep guard or to control access to something
Examples:
Adjective: A twentieth-century lifestyle includes lots of technology. The nation’s largest single-day century ride. Noun: A century ago most people walked to work. The second iteration of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London took two centuries to build (Cathedrals). Millions of people celebrated the beginning of the 21st century on January 1, 2000. The pottery dates back to the sixth century B.C.E. When the prince got married, it was called the wedding of the century. In the fifteenth century, the Byzantine Empire fell to the Turks. He commands a century. Eight fifties were hit in an ODI between Pakistan and Zimbabwe, in Karachi in 2008, with none of the batsmen managing to get a century (Stats).	Always post a sentry at the door of an armoury. The captain has assigned him to sentry duty. Johnny is the sentry on this shift.
Derivatives:
Adjective: centurial Noun: centurion, half-century	Noun: sentry-go
History of the Word:
The first known use was in 1533. From the early 17th century. Late Middle English from the Latin centuria, which is from centum meaning hundred. In contemporary use, a century is popularly calculated as beginning in a year that ends with 00, whereas the traditional system designates the 00 year as the final year of a century.	The first known use was in 1608. Early 17th century, perhaps from the obsolete centrinel, a variant of sentinel.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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Resources for Century versus Sentry

Apple Dictionary.com

“The Cathedrals of Britain.” BBC.co.uk. n.d. Web. n.d. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/architecture_cathedral_01.shtml>.

“Stats.” Cricket Info. ESPN. n.d. Web. n.d. <http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/stats/>.

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Pinterest Photo Credits:

Sentry by OctopusHat, <https://visualhunt.com/author/e94242>, is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via VisualHunt. Prussian Cadet, 1855, by Crousaz was uploaded by Unbekannter Graphiker der Epoche and A Sentry Stands Force Protection Watch is a US Navy photo by Gary Nichols; both are in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.